


Two Steps Back

by moonboots



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-09
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 17:38:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5674759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonboots/pseuds/moonboots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The vampires of Nohr are entirely too curious about human Ashura, and have no damn sense of personal space.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Steps Back

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Amielleon for the beta! This is entirely her fault.

“Oh, excuse me--!” 

People no longer bumped into Ashura by accident, and the frigid hand that darted under his mantle to squeeze his bare shoulder proved every suspicion right. 

He couldn’t even bring himself to pretend that he’d bought the excuse or believed the fake stumble, not that the young man seemed to care about his reaction. Ashura’s scowl may as well have bounced off of his helmet; he was much more fascinated by rubbing his fingers together, sharing the secondhand warmth. 

“...it’s fine,” Ashura ground out at length. It wasn’t fine, it was far from fine, it was an Infinite Chasm away from fine, but he wasn’t going to start a fistfight in the mess hall and the soldier wasn’t even listening to him. He was already walking away, his curiosity satisfied. 

_Three times_ , and Ashura hadn’t even gotten his lunch yet. 

He cast a wary eye around the hall. It was busy, of course--it always was. Even the off hours (and Ashura had been trying harder and harder of late to find the most off hours) were thick with watchmen of varying shifts. 

People were standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the line for food itself, and suddenly Ashura was a lot less hungry. His cloak felt like it was made of gauze. 

_He's from Hoshido._

The news had rippled through camp faster than his name. 

Excitement and anticipation ran high in the soldiers that were green enough to have never known the light of Hoshido for themselves. The few humans in shadowed Nohr were beholden to noble families; their warm bodies were as familiar to the average man as the sun itself. 

The reality of the cold-blooded creatures of Nohr was slightly more mundane than the nightmarish tales of Nosferatu he had heard as a youth on the other side of the Chasm. They fed on animals more than anything else, but human blood remained a valued delicacy. 

He felt confident that nobody in Kamui's army was going to try to kidnap him and keep him as a permanent living dinner, but it was little comfort when he couldn’t even get through a meal of his own without being groped by a curious soldier who wanted to know if he was as warm as everyone said.

 Pale hair at a far table caught his eye. With a dismal glance at the crowd between them, he took a circuitous route around the edge of the room to where Zero was sitting. 

"I don't care what happens, I'm stabbing the next person who lays a hand on me," he hissed as he finally dropped into a seat next to Zero. Zero didn’t twitch at all at his approach, and Ashura was viciously envious. 

"Oh, not enjoying the attention? You've never been so popular in your life, haven't you?" Zero always looked too collected, sitting casually in his chair like he owned the place. His eye glimmered with amusement. 

Ashura wrapped his cloak tightly around himself and fixed a soldier that passed too close with a burning glare. "This isn't popularity, this is being passed around like a bedwarmer." 

"And that's something you haven't had enough of either, hm?" 

"Shut it," he snapped. Most of the time he didn't mind Zero's banter, but his temper had worn far too thin. "I'm serious, this is driving me insane. I can't walk down a hallway without five people wanting to know what I _really_ feel like and I'm not exactly in a position to tell them off." 

"They can't help being curious." In spite of Zero's chuckle, Ashura knew he wasn't without sympathy for the strange position of being a criminal folded into the army. Officially, Kamui had expunged his record; unofficially, everyone knew he used to slit throats for a living. There were times it was awkward. "And it's not as though you're close enough to anyone else for them to make assumptions." 

Ashura fixed him with a suspicious eye. "What assumptions are you talking about?" 

"This is happening because you're isolated. Align yourself with someone, and people will stop harassing you to avoid drawing their ire. It's the same as the gangs." 

"I didn't exactly have a lot of friends there, either," Ashura muttered. He had preferred to avoid the complex social negotiations of the street gangs. Staying unaffiliated was harder, but he couldn’t afford to have loyalty sworn to some punk when Kouga was what he needed to be saving money for. 

"And you're not going to ask Lord Kamui for help." Zero continued with factual surety in his voice. 

"Of course not." He could hardly expect Kamui to babysit him; it had been enough kindness to spare his life and feed him. Ashura knew he needed twice the food the average vampire did, and in much more variety. Kamui hadn’t hesitated at all before ordering extra fruits and vegetables for him, and the luxury was beyond words. 

Zero kept looking at him steadily, and Ashura frowned. "What, are you volunteering?" 

"You don't have other friends, much less ones influential enough to keep attention off of you. Let me claim you in public, and the soldiers won't bother you any more." 

"...claim." Ashura fixed him with a flat stare. 

Zero gave an airy shrug. "Vampires are possessive; I can't help the language. It'll just be a show, anyway--all I have to do is take a little blood and no one will risk bothering you." 

Relying on someone else for protection was never his first choice, or his second, or third, and a refusal nearly left his lips on principle alone. But what other choice did he have? Food soured in his stomach when a hand would drift against his ribs or shoulder when he dropped his guard to eat. It was starting to feel like being on the streets again, having to be constantly aware and ready for an attack from anyone. 

"I don't want people to think I'm your servant or something," he groused, and Zero grinned at the imminent capitulation. 

"Even among the servant houses that haven't turned, it's far from slavery. They’re actually quite respected, since no one else can do what they can. We're not _complete_ barbarians here in Nohr." 

"The finer points of the whole arrangement didn't exactly filter down to the slums, and I don't think I need to tell you that." He couldn't keep a sharp edge out of his voice. There were some other warm-blooded humans in Nohr, but they weren't in the lower class and it was difficult to ask around for basic social knowledge that every native should have known without tipping his hand. 

"Peace, peace," said Zero with a wave of his hand. "I'm just letting you know that no one will think you're an animal. But even if they did, what reputation are you trying to save?" 

Ashura glared. "Excuse me for trying to keep an ounce of self-respect." He leaned back. 

Before Zero could air any of his choice remarks about Ashura and self-respect (and he always had so many on hand), an icy hand skimmed the back of Ashura’s neck and he jumped like someone had poured cold water down his shirt. Even as he whirled in his seat with an angry yell barely contained, a soldier was speed-walking away with his head bent in enthusiastic conference with a friend.

 “--so _warm_ \--!” 

Ashura turned back to Zero with gritted teeth, yanking his cloak around him like armor. "Alright, to hell with self-respect. Do whatever _stops this_." 

It was no surprise that Zero stood immediately--Ashura had always been of the mind that the present was the best time to start things, and Zero had a similar “take it before it is taken” philosophy. 

He followed Zero to one of the pillars by the center of the mess hall. It was definitely public. That was what they wanted, right? Eyes against his back made him itch. With any luck, he wouldn’t have to deal with them soon. 

Zero leaned in close to his face, and Ashura jerked away. "What are you doing?" 

"You don't actually want to feel me bite you open, do you?" 

"...right." The few people he'd let feed off him in exchange for food or shelter hadn't bothered. 

This time, he opened his mouth to Zero when he closed the distance between them. It had been a _very_ long time since he'd done any kissing, but Zero seemed to have a goal in mind. He thrust his cool tongue in right away, sliding it across the inside of Ashura's mouth. 

It didn't taste like poison, Ashura mused. He had always thought vampire venom would have the bitter taste of a drug, but Zero's kiss only tasted like Zero. 

Zero was toeing the line by anesthetizing him with a kiss instead of just licking his neck or wrist, but Ashura found it hard to get upset about it. After all, Zero _always_ toed the line, and Ashura hadn’t honestly expected him to suddenly take up a crusade in favor of personal space. The direct delivery of a kiss was faster than absorbing the venom through skin, too, and Ashura wanted this over with quickly. 

And, well...Ashura hadn’t kissed another person in over a decade. Maybe he was that pathetically desperate for affection, but Zero wasn’t half-bad at it. 

He was already feeling heavy and languid when Zero pulled back, which should have alarmed him more than it did. Was that trust, or a side effect of the venom? 

"Feeling good?" Zero murmured against his cheek.

"Just don't let me fall." It was starting to seem like a great idea to let all of his muscles go slack, and he squeezed his eyes closed and open to stay focused. 

"You won't go anywhere." Zero pushed him back against the column, and although the sexually charged words made him roll his eyes, Ashura was gratified Zero had actually planned for that. He couldn't have had many chances to feed off of a willing human; Ashura had seen some vampires exchange blood to swear loyalty, but their venom didn't affect one another. 

Without further ado, Zero leaned in again. He came close, close enough that Ashura thought he was going for another kiss--until his fangs sliced Ashura’s lip open. The deep kiss had already ensured there would be no pain, only a sluggish tingle instead as Zero latched on to his lower lip. 

Wasn’t he supposed to go for a vein? Ashura blinked. Zero’s cobalt eye challenged him to object to the liberty. 

Ashura knew he should, he _really_ should, but he was already pressed up against a column in the middle of the mess hall--did it matter where the blood came from at this point? As long as it looked more like feeding than making out to the crowd at large--and he could already see red smeared over Zero’s mouth--the endeavor would be a success. He could be annoyed with Zero’s childish pushing later. 

He let his eyes drift shut as Zero bit the wound to agitate it and licked the blood from his lip. 

All things considered, Zero was being somewhat mature (well, for him) about this. No cracks about being his servant or owned, no suggestive threats about what he might do while Ashura was sedated with his venom. He was even pressing Ashura against the column by his shoulders rather than molding their bodies together, not trying to take advantage of Ashura’s heat. Being slipped a little tongue wasn’t bad at all compared to what he could be doing. 

The cool face moved away from his. Ashura couldn’t feel his lips, but there was wetness all down his neck and chin; was he drooling? He bumped a clumsy hand against his chin and stared at the red coating his palm. "Ohhh," he mumbled. 

Zero was back on him in an instant, licking up the column of his neck. He couldn't feel anything but the cool damp of the air in the wake of Zero’s tongue as he tilted his head back to give him better access. It was better to get it all off, wasn’t it…?

 

* * *

 

Zero lapped the last of the fresh drops of fresh, bright blood from Ashura’s lip. The venom would keep the wound from fully closing for some time, but it was slow enough to ignore for now. Satisfaction grew on Zero’s face at the picture he made; swollen lips stained with red, lashes of his heavy eyelids stark against his cheeks. Was this how he looked when he was nice and fucked out? 

“So, was it good for you?” Zero drew back with a smirk that was too energized to be called smug; excitement sparkled in his eye as he licked his lips clean. There was nothing at all that could compare to the thrill of hot blood, and in spite of his age, Ashura’s was _rich_. It had been a feeding of pleasure rather than necessity, so the rush of energy only pushed his sensations into overdrive. Colors blazed, his fingertips tingled. Even if Ashura never let him feed again, it was all worth it for this brilliance.

“Nnnh…” The older man wasn’t nearly as lively. His eyes, barely focused and almost completely black, were hesitant to blink open. It took a good several seconds for his gaze to blindly slide around the room before settling on Zero. 

He blinked, taken aback. Ashura wasn’t in the best of health, but Zero hadn’t taken so much blood that he should be only half-conscious--he had purposely avoided major veins, in fact. What the hell was wrong with him? 

Zero stared at the thin rim of brown around Ashura’s blown pupils, his slack lips. He loosened his grip on Ashura’s shoulders to experiment, and immediately had to grab him again as the older man failed to catch himself. 

“You taste...thick,” Zero said slowly, tongue darting out to lick a stray drop of blood from his own hand. With any other expression and tone of voice, it would have sounded like one of his usual dirty remarks, but now there was something else in his gaze. “Did you eat before this?” 

“Was I s’posed to?” slurred Ashura.

 

* * *

 

Odin was a good man, Ashura decided. He had hardly spoken with Zero’s fellow retainer save when he happened to run into them both, but he would have to be more friendly with him in the future. 

Not thirty seconds had passed before Odin was at Zero’s shoulder, asking what was happening and if they were alright. More hushed, rapid words he couldn’t quite understand flew above his head while they helped him slump into a chair. It was almost a shame he couldn’t follow the conversation, because Odin was using words under four syllables and that was certainly rare enough to be worth appreciating. 

Suddenly a hand was patting his cheek, and a sultry voice murmured, “See you later,” in his ear. 

By the time he raised his head, Zero was gone. Only Odin was standing next to him, red-faced and holding a glass. 

“Unbelievable!” Odin was steaming. “He’s really leaving!” 

“Aaah, it’s fine.” Everything was said slowly. He could only barely feel his lips, and had to rest a hand against his mouth to make sure they were moving. “Zero always runs off when he screws up.” 

Maybe it was still the venom at work, but his temper wouldn’t fire up under the heavy blanket of calm over his mind. That was expected behavior for Zero as well, after all. Most of the time, he was too slippery to be pinned with a real fuck-up. When he actually did, he had no idea what to do with the embarrassment and would leave the situation entirely, like a kid.

Ashura listed drunkenly when he tried to sit up, and Odin sat next to him to steady his shoulder. “I know he...didn’t mean to hit me so hard,” he said thickly. Damn, but his tongue felt like leather. His nerveless fingers nearly dropped the glass Odin handed him, and the dark mage had to help him raise it to his lips to take a sip--something sweet and fruity--before putting it back on the table. “My own fault, I think.” 

“That’s hardly the worst of the sins he’s committed,” scowled Odin. “To publicly ravage a paramour so salaciously and leave him to fall on his own feet after? I know Zero’s eccentric, but this is the behavior of a through-and-through scoundrel!” 

It was hard to tell whether it was _paramour_ or _ravage_ that made Ashura choke. At least it was something to cut through his mental haze. He blinked, trying to wake himself up to explain. “Uh, no. S’not like that. He was doing me a favor.” 

“A _favor?_ By dining on you like a king with his concubine?” asked Odin incredulously. 

“It...huh?” Odin wasn’t usually _this_ hard to understand. Ashura scrubbed a hand over his face, feeling the tingle of sensation return to his cheeks. 

Odin stared. “You do know what he just did, do you not? If Lady Elise had seen that, Dame Elfie would have already sent you past the realm of mortal men.” 

“Servant...claiming…?” Ashura hazarded. A sinking feeling was building in his chest. “Look, I know the kissing made it weird, but--” 

“Anyone kisses!” Odin exclaimed, throwing his arms out in frustration. “That bloodletting--it was completely--” With their sluggish circulation, it took a lot to make a vampire blush. Odin was crimson. “No one can even look at you!” 

His head still felt entirely too heavy, but he lifted it anyway to cast his eyes about the room. It was probably the first time since he’d come to be in Kamui’s service that nobody at all was looking at him, not a sidelong glance or a head over a shoulder. Of the faces he could see, in profile or turned partly away, there were more than a few red cheeks. 

“Odin,” he said in a creaky voice. His artificial calm was combusting rapidly. “What _exactly_ did Zero do, in your eyes?”

 

* * *

 

“Get me a stake.”


End file.
